EL cops seek shooting suspect

July 25, 2013

EAST LIVERPOOL A 22-year-old man was shot in the East End of the city last night and police were still looking for the suspect at press time, searching several homes in the area.

Detectives did not identify the victim, who was initially taken by private vehicle following the shooting to East Liverpool City Hospital.

He was then flown by helicopter to a hospital in Pittsburgh suffering from a wound to the torso. His condition was not known at press time, but a detective said he had suffered a "serious physical injury."

Officers responded at about 8 p.m. to a home on Pennsylvania Avenue near the intersection of Dewey Avenue where they said the victim had been in an argument with another man.

He was standing on the opposite side of the street from the home when another man came out onto the porch and fired at him, police said.

A man taken to the police station as a witness who identified himself to the newspaper as Chris Seaton said the man police suspect as the shooter was at his home with his son.

Identifying the man as his son's "buddy," Seaton said, "The guy was on my porch and said, 'I'll show you what I'm all about,' and shot and then ran."

Residents of the duplex next door said they heard the shots.

Police initially believed the suspect fled toward Lisbon in a vehicle but new information about 9:30 p.m. indicated he had not fled the area and officers from the city, St. Clair Township's K-9 team and an officer from Liverpool Township converged on Dewey Avenue, entering a home there.

They searched while a young woman and a child and other people huddled in a van, watching a video inside.

They came up empty handed after searching two different homes, one vacant. At press time, officers were headed toward another location, continuing their search for the suspect, who they did not identify.